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This guide is for how to prepare large hard-shelled crabs of about 500g (1 lb) and upwards in weight.

How to choose your crab look for a crab that is heavy for its size and has a hard, rigid shell. Avoid crabs with soft or brittle shells, as this can be a sign of age or poor health. You should also check the crab’s legs and claws, making sure they are intact and not damaged.

How to humanely dispatch the crab before cooking The best way to approach this (and the same for lobster) is to chill it in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before cooking. This will slow down the crab’s metabolism and make it easier to kill. Once the crab is chilled (and still ensuring the pincers are taped up) turn the crab on its back. You will see a tapered flap (the skirt) at the back end. Raise this flap to reveal a tiny hole/vent. Place a thin screw driver on the hole and drive it into the vent/hole with the hand or use something heavy to hit the screw drive if your hands are not strong enough. Wiggle the screw driver around. This will immobilize the rear/main nervous system and effectively kill the crab. Now move to the front of the crab, and between it's eyes, again place screw driver and drive into the soft part under the main shell. Again wiggle screw driver around. Now both parts of the nervous system are effectively dead and so is your crab.

I've found (and most agree with me) that a crab is much easier to prepare and dress once it's cooked. Cooking is simplicity itself and the best way is to steam the crustacean. Steaming reduces the amount of water in contact with the crab, does not drown the meat in liquid and helps preserve the crab's delicate flavour. As a guide, here are some suggested steaming times, depending on the size of the crab.

Crab Weight	Cooking time (minutes/500g)
500g–1kg	8–10
1–1.5kg	10–12
1.5–2kg	12–15

Once steamed, remove the crab from the steamer basket then rinse under cool water in the sink. This will cool down the shell enough for you to handle. Flip the crab over a couple of times to get both sides with the water.

Set the crab on your chopping block with the under-side uppermost. Flip up the apron and use your thumb to break it off at the back of the shell.

Remove the carapace Stick your thumb into the hole left from the apron, and lift up gently but firmly. The carapace will detach from the body, trailing lots of attached guts. (If this is hard to do use a screw driver to help you lever up the front and back ends of crown.) Once the crown is detached you will need to remove the gills, mandible / mouth parts, including small stomach behind mouth parts and the flap at the rear.

Rinse the crab body to remove all the goo so that the only things left are the shell and the meat.

Break the crab into two halves. Turn the crab upside down and place your thumbs near the mid-line on the back. Push up with your thumbs and pull down with your hands. Now separate the legs and claws from the body.

To serve. Keep a tool (i.e., a cracker, large knife, slab of wood, smashing rock) for easy access into the claws. Pull chunks of meat out of the body, then break open the legs and claws. You can pick the meat out with a tool, or slurp it out directly.